


The Game

by BookBearer



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Car Chases, Crimes & Criminals, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fights, Flirting, Gun Kink, Gun Violence, Mob Boss Beth, Mob Boss Rio, Money, Mutual Pining, Organized Crime, Police, Rival Sex, Rivalry, Robbery, Shes a BOSS Bitch, Unresolved Sexual Tension, lots of money involved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookBearer/pseuds/BookBearer
Summary: To say Rio was pissed would be the understatement of the century.To say Rio was angry would be closer, but still not quite accurate.To say Rio was livid... then you've hit the mark.There were three things in life that he didn't fuck around with; his family, his business, and his fucking money. When an unexpected robbery at one of his spots goes down, Rio suddenly finds himself forced to fight for two of the three most important things in life.And somewhere miles away, his biggest problem stands in her kitchen, cooking away her next scheme.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 11
Kudos: 122





	The Game

**Author's Note:**

> Rio is mad. Like... hes really, really mad.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rio is pissed. 
> 
> Like... really pissed.

The sound of the gunshot ripped through the air, the bang making those closest jump where they stood. All eyes were widened, terrified and anxious, watching as the body fell down to the ground with a hard thump. Thick crimson liquid immediately began spreading against the cold, unforgiving concrete floor, seeping into small cracks and crevices.

The man above the body took a breath, closing his eyes and taking a moment to compose himself. The handgun resting in his hand was smoking, the small waves of smoke mixing with the overarching smell of copper, metal, and old paper in the air.

“Let me calm myself down a sec… before things get real bad, yeah?” The man drawled, his deep voice laced with tension and anger. His thick black eyebrows were furrowed, frustration lining every inch of his face. His eyes were closed, nostrils opening as he took a deep breath in, before letting it out once again.

After a few tense moments, the man withdrew the smoking gun, tucking it back within the waist band of his black pants. He took his time, knowing every single eye was on him in the room, slowly walking back towards his leather chair. He took a seat, the leather creaking underneath his weight. He leaned forward, elbows on the expensive mahogany wood of his chest.

His eyes lifted, the brown of his irises darkened with anger. The sight made the men in front of him look away, nervousness and anxiousness seeping into their statures. The man took in the sight before him; six large men with tattoos – well, now _five_ – all stood before him, armed and waiting to hear what he had to say.

The men all had reason to be nervous. Sitting before them was one of the most ruthless, feared gang-leaders in all of Detroit. His reign had deep generational roots- his grandfather being one of the founders of the organization. For years the family had called this city its headquarters; their darkened influences and dealings stretching across the Midwest and out West. Blood, sweat, and tears were all poured into this group- not only from its leaders, but from members who dedicated their lives to its survival. And the money. There was a _lot_ of money.

He was running a multimillion dollar business.

“B-Boss,” One of the men cleared his throat, finally being able to gain back the courage to say something. The man kept his eyes trained forwards, forcing himself to ignore the dead body of another member below him.

“We can explain—”

“ _What **else** is there to explain, Jose?” _The man snapped, the fury and acid sharp in his words. His venomous tone made the large man falter, flinching in fear he was next to be killed. He watched fearfully as the man’s fingers twitched, itching to grab his gun again.

“This ain’t no couple g’s, man. This ain’t pocket change,” He hissed, eyes narrowed. He made sure to look at every single one of the men standing in front of him, making sure they knew just how pissed off he was.

“That was a million _fucking_ dollar hit, Jose!” He growled, his temper beginning to get the best of him.

“So where the _fuck_ did my money go?” He shouted, bringing his hands up, before slamming them down on the desk, its contents rattling and a few falling off.

The large room was deathly silent, the anger radiating off of the powerful man in waves. Nobody liked it when he got this mad- often times, he would lose control and… well, do what was done in front of him. But what else could be done? He couldn’t just let this slide, now.

“Rio.”

The man, _Rio_ , snapped his head to the side, the firm voice pulling him out of his seething anger for a moment. The voice was feminine, yet held resolve and years of experience in “the business”. She was one of his most trusted allies… they had a complicated history together. Practically grew up together.

“Rhea,” Rio cleared his throat, eyes momentarily shifting to the men in front of him. Without hesitation, the men formed a blockade around the newly deceased body, shielding the sight from the woman in front of them.

“Now ain’t a good time mama,” Rio’s voice drew out, low and stressed. His mind was working a mile a minute, trying to figure out how this shit was going to work out.

This most recent hit was one of the biggest they’ve seen in a while. Rio and his group owned – well, “collaborated with” – multiple grocery stores, businesses, and shops throughout the city of Detroit. Each section had its own purpose, but there were a couple of larger, no-named, grocery stores that were their biggest assets.

One of which was robbed yesterday night.

The first time an incident like this happened, Rio was not overly concerned. There were lowlife criminals scattered all across the city of Detroit- sometimes shit happens. Some people are new to the area, so maybe they didn’t get the memo—don’t _fuck_ with Rio’s business.

Usually he would send out a couple of his boys to rough them up a bit. And if he was feeling generous, he would show them the error of their ways, take the full cut of what they took, and then let the go with all their fingers intact. _Sometimes_.

But this?

This was different.

With each passing day, Rio would continue to hear about how his shit was getting robbed. A barber shop here, a liquor store there, and now yesterday was the grocery store on 3rd. And it only seemed to be _his_ shit getting hit… each store that was robbed had _his_ cash involved somehow.

To say Rio was _pissed_ would be the understatement of the century.

To say Rio was angry would be closer, but still not quite accurate.

To say Rio was livid... then you've hit the mark.

They have tried looking for these assholes for weeks now, but nothing has turned up. They have searched and waited outside of every single store he dealt with, but nothing has turned up. So that left Rio with only a few options; it was the feds (but he knows they’re not stupid enough to pull this shit), or it was a new group in town.

Rio hoped he was wrong… he wanted to avoid bloodshed wherever he could. Honestly, he didn’t mind capping someone here and there, but the less bodies the better. Less leads for the feds, and whatnot.

Rio felt his hands tighten, clenching, sizzling anger boiling inside. His jaw clenched, lips pierced, as he thought. The moment he found this guy, he was going to fuck his ass up. Slow at first, then set an example out of his dumbass. _No one_ steals from Rio.

The sound of Rhea’s sneakers softly squeaked across the room, walking with her hips towards Rio.

Rhea was always an attractive woman. She had a curvy body and prominent lady-like features, a prime example of a natural beauty. She was one of the most beautiful Latina women in the neighborhood- maybe even the city. With short black hair, her full lips and warm brown eyes were fully on display… she was breath taking and everyone knew it.

But she was always humble about her looks. She wanted to be known for her compassionate side, not her looks. She was as sharp as a whip, and was an expert when it came to medicine. She never became an official medic, but always helped the group when people were seriously hurt. She couldn’t even remember how many times she had to stitch Rio up when he came back with a gunshot wound or a stab wound.

She let out a little sigh, sitting on the edge of the desk. She watched as the man beside her continued to think, his face scrunched up, in the process of thinking of his next plan of action.

Rhea didn’t like when Rio got like this. Even when they were younger, she never liked seeing her friend like this. He was so wrapped up in his work… somedays he would disappear for the night, just to return in the morning. Sometimes he would disappear for a few days, or even for a few weeks.

Nowadays, he wouldn’t even come home. She would always have to come down here to find him, always in meetings, in the warehouses, or always on the phone. It got her especially worried when he’d causally mentioned he had forgotten to eat, or get a decent meal here and there.

Even though their relationship was complicated, she still cared for him.

“I know, papi,” She sighed, her voice soft. She reached over and caressed the back of his neck gently, her soft and warm hands delicate on his skin. She watched as some of the tension in his face washed away, glad to be able to help ease his mood a bit.

Although they weren’t officially together, they always shared a sweet spot in their hearts for each other. They had ended things long ago, but on occasion something would spark up. It would never last, but one thing that always did, was the mutual love and respect for one another. She wanted him to be happy, and him for her.

“Which is why I brought you this.”

Rio glanced down at Rhea’s hands, raising an eyebrow at the small note in between her slender fingers. It was a tiny white piece of paper, ripped and wrinkled, but still intact for the most part.

After casting the woman another questionable glance, Rio opened the paper, his eyes scanning the contents inside. There was the scribble of purple ink, the note seemingly rushed and written on the page;

_Fine & Frugal. Thursday. 9:15. Bring the bags. dumbass._

_-AM_

Rio looked back up at Rhea who had already begun getting up. His lips curled into a confused look, holding the note between his fingers. He rose it slightly, “Where’d you get this from?”

Rhea shrugged. “Found it at the shop after it was hit.”

Rio looked back down at the note, rereading it once more.

He frowned. Finally, this was a good thing, right? But he couldn’t be too sure… what if it was a trap? What if someone planted it in the parking lot or out back knowing one of his boys would pick it up? How did he even know it was the guys he was looking for- it could be any note from anybody. But then again-

“I gave you this to help, Rio,” Rhea interrupted his racing thoughts, bringing his eyes back up to hers. Her eyes showed genuine concern for the man in front of her, “I don’t want you spending all your time on chasing down these people. If this is a real lead, you take care of it, okay?”

Rio nodded, already planning exactly how he was going to take care of the situation. He looked at one of his men, giving a slight nod to begin loading up the car. He had other business to attend to today, but now he also needed to get ready for this.

Rhea gave a small smile, before letting out a little huff of air. She rolled her eyes at Rio’s obsession with getting business done, moving to get up. She reached in her pocket, pulling out a small yellow package.

“And I’m done takin’ care of you too, you big baby,” She joked, placing the soft little wrapped gift on his desk. Rio gave the woman one of his signature smirks, reaching forwards and accepting the gift.

In his hand was a small yellow pastry, wrapped in clear wrapping paper. His fingers opened the gift, instantly being met with the smell of sugary sweetness. He could tell it was a type of soft lemon pastry, cut in the shape of a star, the white soft powder sprinkled evenly on the top of the treat. It was decorative, almost perfect, like it was straight from a bakery.

Rio raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the pastry before looking back up at Rhea. He put the lemon bar down, before reaching out and wrapping his long arms around Rhea’s curvy waist. He pulled her in before she had the chance to escape, bringing him closer to him.

“Hmm… so you cookin’ for me now, huh?” He rose an eyebrow, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips.

Rio tilted his head and looked her up and down. He flicked out his tongue, giving a charming ‘Rio’ like grin. He was never shy about the way he spoke to people, and he was as blunt and forward as could be. It was just his personality.

He watched as the woman laughed freely, slightly throwing her head back to expose her white teeth. Rhea brought her hands against Rio’s firm shoulders, gently pushing against him. She shook her head, before shrugging easily. 

“Got it at Marcus’ soccer games today,” She explained, tilting her head to the side as she swayed easily within Rio’s hold.

She motioned to the pastry with her hand, “One of the moms gave it to me. Real nice lady.”

Rio nodded, looking back at the pastry and then back at Rhea.

The thing did look pretty damned good… he never understood why people loved baking so much, but it was moments like these that reminded him how much he loved home-cooked goods. He was almost always on the road, so he was always eating out. Stuff like that reminded him of home.

“Mhmm...” Rio hummed, before pulling Rhea closer, “So what? This mean you gonna be my new house-wife or sum?”

Rhea lightly cursed out the man below her, before joining him in a mutual laugh. She then went on about how she would never do such a thing, and how he needed to get his head out of his ass.

***

_9:00pm_

“Damn it… where are they?” Rio grumbled, messing with the handle of his gun out of habit.

He sat in the driver’s seat with his elbow resting on the window, his hand covering the bottom of his mouth. His chin rested on his hands, his eyes focused on the bright store ahead of him.

The store was large, with people trickling in and out of its front entrances. There were a few street lamp lights lighting up the parking lot, along with the bright red illumination of “Fine and Frugal” in the front.

They had begun waiting for the guys earlier this afternoon, watching to see who had come in and out of the store. They looked for people they knew… rival gangs, known cops, regular people… anybody who would raise an eyebrow, Rio had his boys note who went in, and how long they were in there.

Through the black tinted windows, Rio’s eyes scanned the perimeter of the store, making sure his boys were stationed in the correct place. There were only four major exits in the entire building; there was the backdoor, side door through freezer, trash, and the front doors.

Rio had his boys set in each area, waiting.

_9:15pm_

Rio watched as an elderly couple slowly made their way out of the front entrance, holding on to one another as they walked into the parking lot. He had to hold back an aggravated huff at the sight… it was the correct time and yet there was still nothing going on.

“Boss. You sure this hit is tonight?” The man in the passenger’s seat asked, looking outside of his own window for anything suspicious. Rio held his tongue, keeping a level head to not snap at one of his men again. He didn’t want to lose any more of his boys- Diego was a good addition, but his big mouth got his ass capped.

Rio’s mind began to race.

Had he missed something? Did something already go down? If it did, the cops would have been here ages ago. Nothing was going on… maybe that note was a fluke. He guessed it might have been an ambush, but they had checked every inch of the property – nothing was out of the ordinary.

_10:23pm_

Damn it.

So the note _was_ a bust.

Rio hit his hand on the steering wheel, his frustration mounting. This earned him a concerned look from his second hand man, before he turned away minding his business.

Rio didn’t understand what he was missing or where he wasn’t looking. What wasn’t in front of him that he couldn’t see? The biggest problem at the moment was his fucking money… without his money, his entire operation would come to a stop—no money, means no pay. No pay, means having to fire his workers. Which means his business starts to crumble from the inside out.

Not only that, but with the investors from up north, he had to figure out a way to pay them—

“Excuse me? Hey! _Excuse_ me!”

The sound of continuous knocking against the car window brought him out his thoughts, his head whipping around. From behind the tint, he could see a small woman, her small fist furiously pounding against the smooth glass of his window. Rio looked at his partner, who already had his gun drawn.

Rio looked back at the woman, before pressing the button down to roll the window down. His lip curled up in a sneer, already in an annoyed mood. He frowned at the woman, “What?”

The woman took the opportunity to smile, clearing her throat and straightening her back. Rio was able to get a good look at her- she had a small frame, about five foot four or five. She seemed very perky, her red lipstick setting up a smile, her brown eyes lighting up as she spoke.

“Good evening sir. I was wondering if you’d be interested in-”

“No.” Rio dismissed her immediately, not even giving her a second glance, before beginning to roll his window up. This instantly made the woman scoff, clutching her clipboard indignantly. She pushed back some of her short blonde hair behind her ear, standing on her tippy toes to try to peek inside the car.

“Dude! You don’t even know what I was about to say!” She argued, watching as the window rolled shut.

Immediately, the knocking began once more at his window, insistent and unrelenting. The woman’s face moved around, lips now pressed in determination.

“I can take care of her,” The man to Rio’s left said, gun cocked and ready to take care of their little ‘problem’. Rio thought about this for a moment, weighing the options. But… then again, that would be an even bigger mess to clean up- and he’s still got this shit to deal with.

With a shake of his head, Rio waved the man off, before rolling the window down slightly.

The woman smiled, “Good. As I was saying-”

“I don’t want no Girl Scout cookies.” Rio put bluntly, face straight and unnerving. He looked the woman straight in the eyes, uncaring if he hurt her feelings. What the hell was she doing selling shit in the middle of the night? Damn crackheads.

She frowned, “I wasn’t going to say-”

“Have a good night, miss.” Rio finished, already done with the conversation, beginning to roll up the car window. He could hear the girl faintly grumble ‘ _what a dick’_ before taking her damned clipboard and walking away towards the entrance of the store. 

At least he was polite about it… he could have just shot her and been done with it. But then again, that would be too much of a headache to deal with.

_11:05pm_

“Let’s just call it, Boss,” The man carefully put, clearing his throat but continuing to look ahead.

The man in the passenger’s seat didn’t want to overstep any boundaries with his boss, but it was way past the time the “robbery” was supposed to happen. The more time passed, the more it seemed like nothing was going on.

Rio sat for another moment, eyes focused on the store.

This was one of the only leads they had for whoever this fucker was. He didn’t know how many of them there were, how many guns they had, or even where the fuck they came from. The part that bugged him the most was the fact that they knew all of _his_ shit and he knew none of theirs.

“Mm.” Rio finally agreed after a moment, pressing his lips together in thought before shaking his head. The store was going to be closing soon anyways, which meant no one could come in and out without tripping the alarms and calling the cops.

What went wrong?

Rio started the car engine, flicking his headlights on and off as a signal to the others stationed around the store. Individually, each of the unmarked black cars pulled out of their positions; out from the back and around the sides. They all were instructed to meet back at the warehouse; they all spit in different directions as soon as they hit the road.

The boss waited a moment, eyes calculating and observant. The car continued to run as he sat for a moment longer, watching a few late-night stragglers walk through the store. There was nothing out of the ordinary… there were still cashiers at a few of the registers, cleaning up and getting ready for closing. There were some cleaning the floors, others finishing the restocking of shelves.

Rio huffed, leaning forwards to put the car out of park and into the right gear.

He paused.

It almost felt like time had slowed down.

His brown eyes met blue.

Her pair of eyes were unmistakably directed at _him_.

Although the car had tinted windows, it was almost like the woman knew he was sitting in that exact spot, _right there_ , watching, waiting.

Her lips curled up in a playful smile-

“Boss? You aight?”

Rio frowned, shaking his head. He looked over at the man on his right, noting the concern on his face. Rio had lost his train of thought for a moment, pausing, before frowning. “Yeah,” His lip curled up as he answered, “Yeah. Just thinkin’.”

By the time Rio turned his head back to the store, the woman had disappeared.

“Let’s uh… get outta here.” Rio shook his head, taking in a deep breath. He shifted the gears out of park and pressed on the pedal, pulling out of the dark parking lot and back onto the road.

The entire way back to the warehouse, Rio was thinking about their next move. He didn’t know how he was going to figure out how to find the dumbasses who continue to rob him, but he was tired of being played.

He didn’t like playing games.

***

_9:30am_

“Uh, boss?”

Rio looked up from his plate of hot pancakes, his mouth half full with the blueberry fluff.

Marcus wormed underneath his dad, letting out small playful shouts. The boy grinned from ear to ear, pulling on the man’s arm. He had made them breakfast this morning—with Rhea’s help of course. It wasn’t every day that his dad was there to eat with him and take him to school.

“Look! Look!” Marcus yelled playfully, tugging at his dad’s arm to watch him catch another grape in his mouth. Rio released his son for a moment, before standing up. Marcus took this opportunity to try and tug on his dad’s slender fingers, going on and on about how he needs to watch this ‘insanely cool trick’.

“Hold on, pop, hold on.” Rio ran his hand through his son’s long hair, motioning with his head to go into the kitchen.

“Go an’ help your ma with the dishes, okay?” He instructed, earning a groan in response. He lightly smacked his back, pushing him into the kitchen.

The moment Marcus was gone; Rio was back in business mode. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyebrows furrowing. He pierced his lips, eyes calculating and alert. “What’s up?”

The man gulped.

“Frugal got hit.”

***

**Author's Note:**

> I am really excited for this story! More is coming soon... I wouldn't want to leave y'all hanging! (Also, sorry about that rough start.. everything should be back to normal now!)


End file.
